and the u.s. senate hearings are underway for president obama's controversial pick to be the new chief of the cia already the sessions have been interrupted due to protests by activists angry the man behind america's infamous drawing program could become head of the agency. political chaos in tunisia anti-government protests turned into violent clashes with police and the ruling islamist blog the prime minister's plan to form a coalition government. the countdown to the next winter olympics begins that's exactly one year until russia hosts its first ever winter games that promises to become the most unique and the most expensive in history. but not everyone

is in a celebrate torrie mood russia's president lashes out at overspending and sacks a key figure behind the two thousand and fourteen games. and broadcasting live from our studios in moscow this is r.t. certainly glad to have you with us. now from drone strikes to torture techniques barack obama's nominee for head of the cia is facing tough questions in the senate confirmation hearing this session is under way again after it was disrupted by protestors angry at john brennan's role in america's drone program. brennan is widely seen as one of the architects of a controversial program in an effort to avoid scrutiny over his candidacy the u.s. president has even agreed to hand over classified documents justifying the killing

of american terror suspects abroad and as artie's a gun and comments brennan's confirmation might broaden their horizons for america's drone fleets. in the shadows no more drones are moving into the mainstream with drone makers and the u.s. military pushing to defend the killing of drones are more properly titled remotely piloted vehicles allow us to do is to project capability without projecting vulnerability in their revolutionising we're. allowing us to see and keep you from half a world away a major drone manufacturer lockheed martin has financed an hour long documentary on drones aired recently on u.s. public television counting the technological capabilities of the killing machine from trailers like this pilots of the predator and its larger cousin the reaper have killed thousands of individual since two thousand and one using remotely

piloted aircraft contrary to popular belief actually provides the greatest degree of ethical oversight for their use of this young man in pakistan he would probably disagree several of his family members died at the remote chance of a grown up more than a thousand other civilians were reportedly killed by u.s. drone strikes in pakistan and yemen we find ourselves murdering people in many cases children with no evidence whatsoever that they're involved in any criminal or terrorist activity so the numbers should not come as a surprise considering the broad definition the obama administration gives as to who should be on their kill list the leaked memo uncredited assassinations on the us justice department suggests the us government can kill people even without evidence that they are actively plotting against america if you. extend the logic or studio logic being proud by the white house now where you come. lift you might say that we're in danger of going over we're getting very close to of thought

crimes that if somebody a u.s. citizen or otherwise is believed to be thinking something that could lead to actions against the united states then this illogical logic would present the idea that it would be ok for the president joe order that that person be killed despite the u.n. raising concerns about the legality of the use of drones the u.s. is said to expand its remote control warfare setting up new drone bases across the world has redefined war there and intervention in libya he made the case that the war powers act in a pride because there is no risk to american soldiers and so under that rationale he can expand the global war while in his state of the union address claiming that we don't need perpetual war for peace but it is perpetual war when you can drop bombs on any country and then claim that it's not working john brennan often referred to as the architect of the administration's drone war how it's the new

opportunities for the u.s. to wage wars without risking american lives there's another reason a targeted strikes can be a wise choice the strategic consequences that inevitably come with the use of force . as we have seen deploying large armies abroad won't always be our best offense all in all the u.s. now has around ten thousand drones in its fleet not all of them carry weapons of course a lot of them are for surveillance both domestic and international there's a great push both from the administration and the drone makers to present them as america's next best thing john brennan if confirmed will soon be at the helm of the cia and no one doubts that under him the program will expand even further in washington i'm going to stick around. now for more on this we're joined by dr column a scholar and author of exporting made in america democracy thank you for being with us before we get to the questions let's hear what john brennan had to say

about the use of drones take a listen and see what you have to say you only take such actions as a last resort to save lives when there is no other alternative to taking an action that's going to mitigate that threat. now with how would you respond to that well when new administration comes. the the jury. there is. no knowing or suppose an intimate encounter. but more particular concern for most americans gurley is that getting american citizens as well this isn't a no no constitutional rights due process was under the fourteenth amendment to the you know. this is highly problematic which is why many of the

senators on the intelligence committee are very. concerned. has drawn a policy that no one would have ministration is present. now with all of the controversy surrounding a brennan by many he's considered to be the architect of this drone policy that you just mentioned why is the president so keen and putting him in charge of the cia. well the new trial for and the obama administration in its second term consisting of john kerry and circular splitting joke a go if he is going to burn the director defense department or the pentagon and john brennan a certain the cia on the one hand he wants to implement new policies in the middle east north africa area but on the other hand he still has to take care of his right unlike the conservatives. those listeners don't drink and so obama

in order to look like you know strong has to pursue this policy in the spirit killing own will lead us to be strong once again to go and syndromes into pakistan into afghanistan into iraq in other places and kill supposedly enemy combat now this is resulting in the now lives on combat but also in many episodes as well and now are the american citizens who are presumed to be working against american interest american policy and this is what has many senators only intelligence very concerned as well as the american well we have senators that are concerned but if brennan is approved could this be tacit approval from congress or what type of an impact would it have on the drone program or even america's standing in the middle east. well you're absolutely correct this will be an

improvement you were by this in saying this is tacit approval by the u.s. army or is this indiscriminate power killing abroad through the use of drones and this is an escalation in u.s. foreign policy. many people around the world are very concerned. as they should be all right appreciate your thoughts on the subject will be interesting to see how this plays out dr colonic carvel scholar and author of exporting made in america democracy thanks for being with us. now later in the program iran gives egypt a loan to help the cash strapped state that is foundering in political crisis stay afloat. that is despite tehran itself laboring under severe economic pressure after several rounds of us backed sanctions over its

nuclear program. tunisia is witnessing the largest political crisis sense of the revolution two years ago anti-government protests turned violent as police used tear gas to disperse crowds near the interior ministry earlier the violence spread to the southern city of god where hundreds attacked security forces with stones and petrol bombs and rest was sparked by the assassination of the secular opposition leader bill light known for his anti islamic criticism the country's prime minister moved to quell the unrest by forming a coalition government barred the move was blocked by his own party who said they had not been consulted or to use more if notion has the latest from tunisia. the day after the assassination of the prominent opposition leader here in the tunisian capital it seems that temperatures are still very high and tensions are still at a very dangerous the very risky level the level that is threatening and challenging the security instability in this country has happened continuing says day we've

seen many many people on the streets and we've been hearing them chanting and to governmental slogans and i've been many clashes between police and opposition supporters today again and again police has been using tear gas against protesters but not only the clashes between protesters and. opposition supporters have been going on here in the nation's capital my crew and me we've been attacked today here actually by a group of youngsters and the only reason for that because it was just because we feel them and they have been feel md and i think that tells a lot of also how is the situation on the ground that it could be described as something very close to chaotic we've been hearing ever. similar violence in similar disturbances this throughout the country especially in the southern part of tunisia where the headquarters of the ruling party has been vandalized people are

saying that friday will be even worse on friday they say the protest may go even more violent intentions may go even further because friday will be the day of the funerals of the opposition leader also we've been hearing that the country's trade union has been calling on nash and why strike on friday that means that the country could be paralyzed i've heard from texas driving today that no one will do work its course it will only a great things. financial reporting for us there now you can share your views and opinions on all the stories that are to dot com head online and let us know what you think the latest tunisian protests will bring now there you will find four options to choose from let's take a look take a look now how opinion has been divided so far if you look at the screen we have a majority of those who have already voted think that tunisia will plunge deeper

into unrest more than a quarter fear that the latest upsurge of public interest will lead to a government crackdown on protesters and almost a fifth of you believe that the voters in the country might see another revolution and then seventeen percent of you think that the leadership is ready for political concessions we've got more stories after a short break don't go away you're watching our team. well. it's technology innovation all the developments from around russia we've got this huge you're covered. and realized. it was

a big. news today. these are the images we're seeing from the streets of canada. operations. you're watching are to glad to have you back with us now it is exactly one year until the opening of the two thousand and fourteen winter olympic games in russia giant clocks have been erected in the country's largest cities to track the

countdown to the event that will be held in the black sea resort city of sochi the main celebrations to mark the countdown have taken place in sochi itself rounding off with a spectacular gala show artie's enter farmer is in the city for us to see how the preparations for the games are going and to gauge the mood there. police you can see the big spirit has weapon troops on the way it's like the city sky just keeping here that would be spectacular skating show me it's not sure i stay here at the beach games but it's not a nice time for several reasons the city may be the first ones with it except for the environment this is the big power cables in things like the x.p. these games are all to be very confined to people we have to jump into trying within thirty minutes you count the number in the mind of my piano to enjoy the fine events particularly nice that is the piece of being built from scratch something very unusual and not repeat the street cops and he's going to play nice

expensive in the street i think it's something the billion dollars but if you do look around you can see what money can buy the organizing committee says a soldier will be ready in twenty to. farmer there meanwhile the olympic city comes under close scrutiny from russian authorities president vladimir putin has personally been checking the olympic venues and says he's generally happy with what he saw he did however fire one top official for delays and cost overruns in construction work following this rather abrupt conversation. in your view are there any cost overruns yes a serious increase in costs but since they use their own funds for the construes own funds. it's financed by the funds of krisna police who's the shareholder across a point spread bank so it's largely finance at the expense of sperm bank yes and these cost overruns are paid for by sperm bank yes it's been one of the costs of this whole facility cost. what's the overrun with which you're initially we were

assessing the amount of the loan. what's a rough estimate. of the initial price was one point two billion now it's eight billion one point two billion has turned into eight billion yes well done good work let's move on. and of course our team will be monitoring the developments in saatchi on air and online as a city readies for one of the world's biggest and most prestigious sporting events . and it's going to be a battle between the north and south at an e.u. meeting in brussels european leaders are gathering to thrash out an agreement over the union's budget for the next seven years the british prime minister david

cameron is pressing for huge cuts in even going as far as to veto any deal without reduced expenditure however that is fiercely opposed by southern members of the block that are heavily dependent on cash from brussels are teased us are silly and has more on the budget fight. we've seen some of the leaders who had arrived here already making strong statements first of all david cameron continuously saying that if the budget is not brought down to a level that he is happy with there will be no deal we've heard from countries who are saying that they maybe use their veto if they are not happy such as the czech republic to simplify the vicar going on right now it would be between northern and southern countries you could see the wealthier nations versus those that actually depend more on the e.u. funding on the one hand you have countries like the u.k. germany the netherlands denmark these countries are supporting harsher cuts to the e.u. budget david cameron being the most radical and controversial taking this step now

he has been demanding since november last year in two thousand and twelve that was the first today is the second try and since that until now he's been demanding for cuts in brussels bureaucracy for instance he wants to reduce payments officials here and this has not gone down well with brussels officials he also wants to reduce their pensions for instance but on the other side you have those countries who are dependent on these forums and one of the loudest voices on this is a lot of friends now he is saying and pointing a finger at the u.k. say they want cuts but at the same time they are very protective of the so-called rebate this is the money that the u.k. gets back from the e.u. as a return for their payments on farm subsidies which the u.k. does not benefit from and which france benefits a lot from you can see a lot of the national interests coming here to the forefront so france well it's certainly not happy with what if you read between the lines would say hypocritical taken by the u.k. that rebate is worth three point five billion euros and is seen to be wanting to

tackle that point also the u.k. is coming into this summit this is the first time since that referendum that he said that he would pose the question of whether they should remain. twenty seven reelected in the twenty fifth. of course this is a possibility of a creating even more tension in the u.k. with the costs and benefits of actually being a member of the e.u. interpreted by the other members. not being a team player in this regard and also as this talk is happening talking about budget cuts on the e.u. level we see the budget cuts on a more local ground level we've seen the protests continuing even until today people very angry at the. imposed on them on their livelihoods of their pensions their potential jobs while the e.u. cannot agree upon a budget of their own and while the e.u. leaders are fighting over where one item that's apparently immune from any austerity measures the e.u.

is reportedly planning to spend over three million dollars to wage a so-called propaganda blitz on its critics in the social media nigel farage from the u.k. independence party says the project would violate one of the main principles of the european parliament. they decided that they got to train in how staff in the run up to the european elections of twenty fourteen train those people to go online to look at facebook twitter and other social media sites and to correct that's their word not mine to correct any misapprehensions that may exist about the european union and i have to say the fact that it's a parliament that is doing this that is using taxpayers' money to do this says a lot about the institutions that all brought about parliaments is the person is it's him a chair of parliament he's the speaker in westminster he's the chairman in other parliaments around the world but he and all the rest of the stars are supposed to

be neutral they're not supposed to take any political position at all and the fact that the parliament has decided it's going to spend money time and resources doing this shows you that frankly they're no better than a banana republic and this is all the mcgarvie would do or someone like that so i think many people outside would be shocked by it having worked there myself for thirteen years i'm not surprised at all they are really really scared they're scared that from north to south to east to west all over the european union citizens are saying we've never voted for this thing to become the united states of europe we've never asked to have the majority of our laws made somewhere else and we want to do something about it so they're scared and they're fighting back. now let's take a look at some other world news in brief for you this hour. police in los angeles have injured two innocent bystanders while trying to ambush a man who shot dead three people and wounded two others the suspect is

a former police officer who went on a shooting spree in an apparent revenge for being fired from the force so far the man has managed to escape leaving a thread on his facebook page that those killings are only the beginning actually a manhunt is now underway with authorities calling the man very dangerous. rival palestinian factions hamas and fatah are now in talks about forming a coalition government according to the leader of hamas khaled mashal also mentioned that he and his counterpart mahmoud abbas are now preparing for elections along postponed because of the feud between the two parties following a military conflict in two thousand and seven home os has pushed the abbas led to fatah out of the gaza strip and established itself there as a separate government. a police chief and three of his bodyguards have been killed by a roadside bomb in northern afghanistan three others were wounded in the attack which authorities believe deliberately targeted the police

a vehicle this comes after taliban militants claimed responsibility for downing a helicopter in the east of the country where nobody was seriously injured in that incident. iran has extended a helping hand to egypt offering a loan to the cash strapped country it also plans to invest more in sudan all this despite the fact that tehran itself is subject to severe economic sanctions imposed by the u.s. and the e.u. over its nuclear program earlier economist and common terror mokhtari told r.t. that egypt had no choice but to accept help from where it can get it. but i think egypt has has made it quite clear that it wants to go it's own way and where it stands but the muslim brotherhood has come to the realize ation that we're a country three as as important as powerful as iran in the region and then there will have to be give and take and should they decide to do such

a confrontation a confrontational course with iran it would it would prove counterproductive if so egypt is in dire straits and it wouldn't require assistance from any number of muslim countries to want to get back on its feet again. syria's capital damascus has witnessed some of its most intense clashes in months rebels attacked government forces in an attempt to seize control of key approaches to the city center the fighting came despite an earlier offer by the opposition leader. to negotiate with president assad's deputy u. sa government could also be willing to talk that's according to its ally iran whose foreign minister was quoted as the egypt sponsored islamic summit however there are splits within the opposition that make stability unlikely even if they do bring down assad so says syria tribune editor in chief ali mohamed. it's just funny it's

just like all of this will be lines around the sun will be nicer ones different than it is now and that's enough to really have a d.v.d. actually confident and the right even when the u.s. listed. that's it on its black lives the amount of defending it because the movie cannot clearly so not be because lucian is dreaming you believe that they can control the group talk to the top leaders. and the most important part is that these are the princes and the will if you created people they are not full of the shows they are not fighters for freedom they are just work princes and the coalition will only be able to do the work of its founder and me and finally think the. entity we asked them to do and if they don't do that they will lose this financing they lose the support so they have to do this and simply have they don't know how to hold and they cannot because they are not united and they don't have

the same view was so it's a big mess. and after the break r.t. investigates how video games can affect your state of mind stay with us for that. saudi arabia has ordered its retailers to construct one point six meter tall barriers in the middle of their stores a rather unusual demand is that something related to everyone's favorite buzzword terrorism no it is to keep male and female coworkers separate saudi arabia is pretty infamous in the west for its laws regarding the sexes and their segregation activists always want to go to other countries to convince them to adopt western attitudes that deep down in their hearts they secretly want but often they miss things like the fact that it was saudi women who ask for the segregation feeling

uncomfortable while buying products from men according to a.f.p. you know some people in countries like saudi arabia or north korea might actually like living a radically different lifestyle and even if they don't like living that way well it is their job to fix it not by some sort of western intervention when i want to live in either of those countries not really do i want to live in a country with the saudi arabian concept of gender not really a part of having freedom of choice means being able to choose things that i may think are backwards or illogical you know let them have the walls in the stores if they want western civilization you know if it's truly the end all of human evolution then they'll take those walls down eventually on their own but that's just my opinion.

they need. to kill each other online it's nothing personal just business. a whole industry has emerged to encourage gamers to take part in large tournaments . even sponsorships away to cyber athletes who. have already. number of gamers around nine million people in some two to three years there will be around fourteen million of them. have gone so deeply immersed in online games that force is the only way to get pay attention. for these people the real world is simply not enough so they bring the diversions of virtual reality into their real life. and i miss.